Arthur Friedenreich

Friedenreich was often described as a pioneer of jogo bonito, or "the beautiful game," a style that emphasized rapid play with short passes, quick touches, and fluid combinations. It also involved frequent long-range shots and attacks led by two or three fast-paced forwards to disorient the defense. Despite his relatively short stature (5 ft 7 in), Friedenreich was known for his speed, strength, and exceptional technical dribbling.

Brazil

Friedenreich made his debut for the Brazilian national team in their first-ever official match in 1914, beating Exeter City 2–0. In the game, Friedenreich lost two of his front teeth due to a heavy slide tackle. He went to play 17 matches with Brazil, scoring 8 goals and winning the South American Championship in 1919 and 1922. In the opening match of the former tournament, he netted a hat-trick to help his side to a 6–0 win over Chile, becoming the first-ever footballer to score a hat-trick in a major international tournament. A few days later, on 29 May, he started in the decisive match of the tournament against Uruguay, scoring the match-winning goal that allowed Brazil to win its first international title in the 122nd minute, the latest goal in Copa América history, a record that will likely stand forever due to the current rules. Friedenreich was a member of the Brazil team that competed in the 1925 South American Championship, scoring once against in a 5–2 win over Paraguay on 6 December, and another one in a 2–2 draw against the eventual champions Argentina on Christmas Day. In doing so at the age of 33 years and 160 days, he became the oldest-ever goalscorer in the then short history of Copa America. Friedenreich was not picked by Brazil for the 1930 FIFA World Cup because of a clash between the Rio and São Paulo state football federations that saw only players from Rio travelling to the competition. According to official statistics from the CBF, he…

Golden years

In his early career, Friedenreich played with several clubs, such as Germânia, Mackenzie, and Ypiranga, until he found a long-lasting home with CA Paulistano, a top Brazilian club, with whom he played for 12 years, from 1917 until 1929, when the club was disbanded. He was the top scorer in the Campeonato Paulista in 1912, 1914, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1921, 1927 and 1929. In total, he scored 102 goals in 124 official matches, which results in a ratio of 0,82 goals per game, the second-highest among players with at least 50 matches for the club, only behind Waldemar de Brito's ratio of 1,09. Notably, on 16 September 1928, he scored a 7-goal haul in a 9–0 trashing of União Lapa, breaking the record for the most goals in a single Campeonato Paulista match at the time. Following the collapse of the amateur football system in São Paulo in 1929, Friedenreich and several former teammates from CA Paulistano founded the club São Paulo da Floresta (SPF) in 1930 to continue their careers in the changing football landscape. In the mid-time, in early 1930, he briefly played for Santos, appearing in a total of 5 matches, making his debut on 9 February, in a friendly against Atlético Tucumán, which ended in a 4–1 win. On 27 December 1931, he scored a four-goal haul to help São Paulo to a 4–2 win over São Bento in the 1931 Campeonato Paulista, becoming, at the age of 39 years and 162 days, the oldest player ever to score a poker-trick, a record that has since been broken by…

Friedenreich was born in São Paulo to Oscar Friedenreich, a German businessman whose father immigrated to Brazil, and Mathilde, a Black Brazilian teacher who has been described in various sources as both a former slave and a teacher. Due to his Afro-Brazilian origin, Friedenreich faced racial discrimination, though he was able to mitigate some of its effects thanks to his father's reputation and social standing. Friedenreich began playing football in early childhood, with strong support from his father, who helped shape his path to greatness. Having started to play as a child, Friedenreich's talent was soon noticed by his father, who sent him to play for SC Germânia, a Brazilian football team composed of German immigrants. During his youth, he improved his skills by watching Charles Miller, who Friedenreich later described as "sort of my primary teacher in football", but it was with Hermann Friese, a former German football champion, who taught him a "higher level of football". At some point, Friedenreich married his wife, Jonas, and they had a son named Oscar, after Friedenreich’s father. Both outlived him, being left in financial hardship.